Product page SEO: titles, descriptions, reviews and structured data

Product pages win the specific searches: a model number, a brand and product name, a product with a feature people care about. They also have to convince the visitor to buy, so good product SEO and good product pages are mostly the same thing.

Titles and headings

• Put the product name, brand and the defining detail (model, size, colour or material) in the title and heading, the way people search for it.
• Keep titles unique per product. See Title tags and meta descriptions that earn the click.

Write your own description

Many shops copy the manufacturer's description, so the same text appears on hundreds of sites. A description written for your customers stands out:

• what the product is for and who it suits;
• the details buyers ask about (dimensions, materials, compatibility, care);
• honest limitations, which build trust and reduce returns.

Images

Use clear, fast images of the actual product, with descriptive file names and alt text that says what the image shows. Give them width and height so the page does not jump while loading.

Reviews

Reviews help buyers and can show as stars in search results. They must be genuine: Google's policies prohibit fake reviews and reviews written by the business about itself, and incentives that require a positive review are against consumer protection rules in many countries.

Product structured data

Product markup with offers (price, currency, availability) and, where they genuinely exist, aggregateRating and review, makes a page eligible for product rich results showing price, stock and ratings. The values must match what is visible on the page. Test with the Rich Results Test, and see Structured data: which schema types are worth adding.

Product information can also reach Google through Google Merchant Center, which is used for free product listings across Google surfaces.

Out of stock, discontinued and variants

• Temporarily out of stock: keep the page live, show it clearly, and mark availability as out of stock in the structured data. Offer alternatives.
• Discontinued for good: redirect to the closest replacement or the category if there is a genuine equivalent; otherwise return 404 or 410 rather than redirecting everything to the home page.
• Variants (colours, sizes): one page with options is simplest; separate pages make sense when a variant has its own search demand.

Questions about a tricky catalogue? Ask in the E-commerce SEO community.